Tekion Corp
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | SaaS, Automotive Retail |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Founder | Jay Vijayan |
| Headquarters | Pleasanton, California, USA |
Area served | North America, Europe, India |
Key people | Guru Sankararaman (Co-Founder & COO) |
| Revenue |  US$100 million (2023) |
Number of employees | 2,500+ |
| Website | tekion |
Tekion Corp is a cloud technology company headquartered in Pleasanton, California.[1][2] It operates in the automotive retail industry, with its Asia-Pacific headquarters located in Bengaluru and a regional center in Chennai.[3] The company also has operations in the UK, Canada, Germany, and France.[4] The company was founded by former Tesla, Inc. executive Jay Vijayan.[5][6]
History
[edit]Prior to founding Tekion, Jay served as the chief information officer (CIO) at Tesla Inc., where he reported directly to Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO.[7] As CIO, Jay and his team managed Tesla's digital and information systems.[1]
In 2016, he left Tesla to start Tekion, of which he serves as CEO.[8] The company received its initial funding from such investors as Index Ventures, Storm Ventures, Airbus Ventures, BMWi Ventures, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Ventures, and General Motors.[5]
In October 2020, the company became a unicorn after it raised US$150 million in a Series C financing round.[9] This round was led by Advent International, Exor (holding company of Ferrari and the parent company of Stellantis, which owns Citroën, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, Ram Trucks, Peugeot, Vauxhall), Airbus Ventures, FM Capital, and existing investors.[10]
In October 2021, the company secured $250 million in its Series D funding round, with a valuation reaching $3.5 billion.[11] This funding was led by Alkeon Capital, Durable Capital, and Hyundai Motor Company.[12]
In July 2023, the company acquired vehicle registration technology company Five64.[13]
The company's valuation was reported to exceed $4 billion following a $200 million investment from Dragoneer Investment Group, based in San Francisco, in July 2024. Since its founding, the company has raised a total of $640 million.[14]
Products
[edit]In February 2020, the company rolled out its Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC), software designed to connect automotive retail operations from a unified cloud platform.[15] In 2022, the company announced the launch of its customer relationship management application on the ARC platform.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Balachandran, Manu. "How Jay Vijayan—a Politician's Son, Geology Grad And Former Tesla Techie—built The World's Newest Unicorn". Forbes India.
- ^ Sil, Debarghya (2023-08-02). "Exclusive: Ex Tesla Exec's Tekion Lays Off 10% Workforce, 200 Indian Employees Impacted". Inc42 Media. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ Anand, N. (2022-04-19). "Tekion expands global footprint, sets up technical centre in Chennai". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ "Former Tesla CIO founded Tekion to hire 400 people in India". The Hindu. 2022-08-01. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ a b Rogers, Bruce. "Ex Tesla CIO Jay Vijayan Builds Tekion To Improve Car Buying Experience". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ Loizos, Connie (2021-10-05). "Tekion, the automotive retail platform headed by a former Tesla CIO, just tripled in value". TechCrunch.
- ^ King, Rachael (April 4, 2016). "Tesla Motors CIO Leaves to Launch Stealth Startup". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "We are Salesforce but 20 years in the future: Tekion CEO Jay Vijayan". Moneycontrol. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ Mathur, Nandita (2020-10-21). "Tekion joins the unicorn club". mint.
- ^ Giles, Martin. "Former Tesla CIO's Software Startup Tekion Valued At Over $1 Billion In New Fundraise". Forbes.
- ^ "Which automaker announced IPO plans? How much is Tekion actually worth?". CBT News. 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ Tan, Gillian (October 5, 2021). "Tekion Valued at $3.5 Billion as Durable, Alkeon, Hyundai Invest". www.bloomberg.com.
- ^ HOLLMER, MARK (July 27, 2023). "Tekion buys vehicle registration technology company Five64". Automotive News.
- ^ "Tekion Corp raises $200 million in funding at valuation of over $4 billion". The Economic Times. 2024-07-16. ISSN 0013-0389.
- ^ "Tekion launches Automotive Retail Cloud to disrupt automotive industry". Dataquest. 2020-02-13.
- ^ VANHULLE, LINDSAY (April 11, 2022). "Tekion rolls out CRM and digital retail capabilities". Automotive News.